THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Wednesday said foreign direct investments (FDI) registered by the Board of Investments (BOI) have finally breached the P1-trillion target for 2019.
In a press conference, Trade Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo said the FDI target was reached in October. “This is the third consecutive year that the Board of Investments has been making history in terms of investments performance,” Rodolfo said.
He attributed this to FDIs in the energy, telecommunications, and manufacturing sectors.
Among the biggest FDIs contributors this year, DTI said, was DITO Telecommunity, the country’s third telecommunication player.
Rodolfo said they expect even more FDIs in the future, especially with the passage of the new law opening up some local industries to foreign investments.
Currently, Sen. Imelda “Imee” Marcos said legislation is now being prioritized in the Senate after the House of Representatives completed its version of that bill .
In the pending Senate version, she said the paid-up capital for foreign investors has been reduced to just $100,000 and the percentage for their local employment threshold was lowered from 50 percent to just 15 percent.
“This will be a big help for us [to attract] investments. This will probably impact our tourist infrastructure immediately and also in the highly desired digital space because the startups are really, really small,” Marcos said.
Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said they support the bill since it will provide more investments in and enhance the competitiveness of certain medium to big enterprises.
For next year, Lopez said offhand they are targeting for FDIs to reach P1.5 trillion.
He said they expect most of these FDI will come from China, Japan, US and Singapore.
Image credits: Alysa Salen